In Catherine Ryan Hyde’s latest novel, “The Other Kind of Lion,” the main character Shirley Bennet is reminiscent of a couple of her other main characters: strong women who have aged well, who are smart enough to know they don’t know everything, and who have deep wells of compassion that provide kindness and affection in abundance. Such women remind me of the author, and perhaps a bit of each woman is based on the author’s own character.
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Dog (and cat) lovers love the “Dogtown” series by bestselling and much-loved children’s authors Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko. These two authors have many hugely popular books such as “The One and Only Ivan” by Applegate and “Al Capone Does My Shirts” by Choldenko. Together they have created a series aimed at middle grade readers which is utterly charming and filled with animals and animal robots that we fall in love with.
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“The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s” is the latest entry in the “Ruby Vaughn Mystery” series by Jess Armstrong, and it’s riveting to the end. This series features the eponymous Ruby Vaughn, a former New York socialite, who was exiled to Europe after a scandal. She volunteered in the Great War and is now living in Exeter, England, running an antiquarian bookshop with her best friend, Mr. Owen. The past six months have seen her solving mysteries with the help of Mr. Owen and Ruan Kivell, whom she met in the first novel. It’s February, 1923, and while the Great War is long over, the shadows of the tragedies endured in that war are still ever-present in the minds of many, including Ruby and Ruan.
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Judi Dench’s memoir is imbued with her trademark humor and self-deprecating narrative. The format is unusual; it’s told as a conversation between Judi and Brendan O’Hea. Brendan explains that Judi loves sitting at the kitchen table talking with friends, both new and old, so it seemed natural to tell her story through such conversations. It’s works wonderfully as we feel that Judi is talking to us directly.
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Julia Kelly is known for her historical fiction that bring to life important events in history and the women who not only live through them, but endure them and emerge stronger. In this new novel, “The Queen of Roses,” Kelly takes us from the debutantes and season in London to turn-of-the-century Pasadena, and to Pasadena in the 1960s.
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Lisa Kleypas is one of the queens of romance, so it’s exciting to read her first historical fiction novel, “Queen of Lombard Street,” which, not surprisingly has more than a touch of romance in its pages. What Kleypas has accomplished with her new novel is to present readers with a group of characters who represent real historical figures, all of whom changed — or helped to change — the pervasive prejudice of that time period. Unfortunately, more change is needed.
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Welcome back to Three Pines, that charming, peaceful (minus the occasional murder) village nestled in the mountains of Québec. Louise Penny’s prior two novels, “The Grey Wolf” and “The Black Wolf,” took us into a far-reaching conspiracy that spoke of world politics and evil intentions. While our beloved Armand Gamache was still intrepid is his determination to protect people from dastardly plots and despicable deeds, we didn’t get to spend much time in the lovely, fantastical village of Three Pines. But even though this novel returns us to that idyllic locale, there is still so much going on, so many threads to the plot, that trying to do justice to them all is a Sisyphean task.
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“I Never Knew You At All” is a poignant novel that includes complex themes including interracial marriage, the disappearance of a young Black teen in the 60s, missed possibilities, and justice denied. The main character, Simone, marries Alex Hartwell, the heir to the Hartwell grocery story chain, after being jilted by Kwame Walker, the man she thought she would spend her life with.
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“Bark Humbug,” author David Rosenfelt’s “Andy Carpenter Mystery” number 34, is every bit as entertaining, suspenseful, and funny as each of the preceding titles in the series. In other words, readers are virtually guaranteed a terrifically good time. But there’s more good news: in my carefully considered opinion, “Bark Humbug” offers us even more beautiful features than the earlier entries — funnier funny stuff, more suspenseful suspense, and some effective new techniques that add to our enjoyment of every page.
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Bonnie Garmus has graced us with another stunning novel. Her first novel, “Lessons in Chemistry,” is a bestselling favorite, beloved by book clubs and readers everywhere. Her sophomore novel, “Peck & Peck,” is a very different sort of story, but Garmus’ brilliant writing shines through as we read about Batter Gray, a young man whose only ambition in life is to read, discuss, and critique poetry.
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I had the most enjoyable time reading this book. I’m usually not a horror fan, but Lauren Willig’s “What Happens at Nightfall” is a perfectly delicious combination of horror, humor, and romance and I couldn’t put it down. Of course, I was a fan of her “Pink Carnation” series over 20 years ago, so I love this return to clever repartee, ridiculous situations, and imperfect characters who fit together perfectly. (I am not saying that her historical fiction doesn’t contain clever repartee! But there are definitely no demons or ghostly apparitions.)
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Picture books — quality picture books — send strong messages to children. Maybe even to the adults reading the books to children. Don’t get me wrong, picture books that are written purely for humor have their place, and kids adore them, but a picture book with a message can be essential when presenting ideas like kindness and compassion to young children and older children. These three recently published picture books are very different from each other, but all share that basic quality: they demonstrate kindness and compassion.
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